If I Were You (Stray Kids Lee Know X Female OC)

Ch. 5: Agreement to Help

"Doyoung, wait!"

Still confused and still heavily bewildered, Minho ran after the female idol just as he saw her leaving the mall. He was allowed to be dismissed early from work due to the fact that he was able to give away all of his coupons quickly, and with that, Minho opted to run after the young woman that helped him, just to look for answers.

"Doyoung!"

Finally, Doyoung hears him, and upon her turning, Minho stops, just a few feet away from her. She looks at him, her expression radiating cluelessness, but her eyes undoubtedly shining at the young man finally giving her the kind of attention she wanted from him.

Minho remained stunned, but he soon spoke, his voice expressing pure curiosity this time. "... Why do you insist on helping me?"

Doyoung smiles, simply yet in such a kind way that it seemed to reach out to Minho, even where he was standing. The young lady finally fully tuns to him, and she stands straight, radiating pure confidence. "Lee Minho! Would you like to be an idol?"

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A sigh leaves the young man's lips as he looks ahead, at the closed door at the end of the hall while he waits. In his hands, he holds a piece of paper, and on his clothes, a set of numbers have been attached.

In the end, he actually went on to audition at a company once again. And all because of that idol Park Doyoung's persistence.

"Number 213?"

"Yes!" Minho replies instantly, standing up and looking towards the door as soon as he hears his number being called.

The employee that had called him looks at him with a sort-of judging look, before she eventually nods and gestures to him to follow her. "It's your turn to audition."

With nervousness filling up inside of him, Minho follows the woman into the audition room, and not long after, he soon finds himself standing infront of a panel of five judges, all of them looking very serious. Soon enough, the one seated in the middle nods to him to let him speak.

"Oh, uh... Hello. My name is Lee Minho. I'm 25 years old, and I'm a former trainee of Guide Entertainment. I can sing and dance, and I am a hardworking person. If you give me a chance, I'd like to show you just how capable and deserving I am of debuting as an idol under your agency." Minho smiles thinly as he ends his introduction.

The judges at the panel nod and go through the papers on their desk once again, not really talking much, until one of them raises his hand briefly to catch Minho's attention.

"Excuse me, but how old did you say you were?" the older man asks, his face stiff as he looks at the young man infront.

Minho turns to him, and with a thin smile (and knowing full well where this is going), he replies: "I'm 25, sir."

The judge sighs upon hearing this, and he goes back to looking at the papers infront of him, seemingly already disappointed.

To be honest, Minho expected this. In an industry where you have to start young to remain popular for as long as possible, it wasn't really even that strange for companies to be looking for younger trainees. Minho was already in his mid-20s, too, which only turned out to be one of the things that would lessen his chances of debuting as an idol. So, exactly, what was he even doing here?

"... Did you say you can dance?" Another judge suddenly asks him, and Minho, who had already hung his head after the first judge's reaction, quickly looks up again to look towards the latter judge instead.